Monday, July 5, 2010

THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE

Unlike last year's “New Moon,” which boggled the mind in that it wasn't in fact some late-night SOAPnet special, “Eclipse,” the third adaptation of author Stephenie Meyer's “Twilight” tetralogy, actually has a cinematic pulse, boasting higher stakes and greater urgency than both of its predecessors. Things are getting a lot more action-oriented in the town of Forks, Wash., where a small army of hungry “newborn” vampires are headed to feast on Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart), the series' brooding heroine who's still playing eenie-meenie with her dual (and dueling) love interests, the vampire Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) and the werewolf Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner). Directed by David Slade (“Hard Candy,” “30 Days of Night”), “Eclipse” also bests “New Moon” in how it knowingly nudges its own phenomena, particularly that of its swoon-inducing heartthrobs. Though far from sure-footed, it's more self-skewering than self-indulgent. And, in a welcome development, the film often shifts its focus to the lives and backgrounds of its intriguing secondary characters, enriching the story's milieu and giving the audience much-needed opportunities to digress.